Reign of Steel: Bloodline
by Squirrel of Shadow
Summary: AU/Non-Canon, Another life awaits, and a new journey becons as evil will always find a way. After the heroes that killed the last Overlord sought to prevent a new one from ever arising again, it has been a long time and things have changed in the kingdoms. A shadow spreads a whisper that a power thought forever gone is returning, and interesting times are coming.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/tv-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 01**

Wind blew through a small valley, with thick mists surrounding the lone hill at the middle of it, the broken ruins of an old tower the only thing truly standing out from the landscape. Dark clouds covered the skies above, the hilly terrain cloaked in mist and the cool dampness in the air giving a chill to any that might have roamed through the grounds.

Within the ruined tower a lone figure lay on the cold stone floor within what may have once been a throne room. The young man seemed just out of his twenties, with short black hair and a fair skin. His black jeans and a dark t-shirt seemed unfit for his surroundings, his bare feet dirty, and his eyes still shut with an arm under his head as a pillow.

Nick yawned faintly while the coolness in the air forced him to wake up, stretching out on the floor before realizing something was different this morning. He was not laying on his bed, but in a place that seemed more suited for a movie scene of some sort. The raised platform had a stone throne resting on it. The pillars along the sides of the room rising high towards the roof, the balconies that they supported overlooking the main walkway through the room before the throne, and the lowered pool at the other end before a balcony overlooking the valley itself.

There were large chunks of stone missing from the walls, the roof, the ground itself torn up and a head-sized chunk of the throne missing at the top. Stains on the ground showed the place had been a mess for a while already, and the stairs down seemed partially blocked by rubble, and the two staircases upwards seemed to be completely blocked off by debris that had fallen down them. So in order to get a better view of his surroundings, Nick chose to make his way to the open-air balcony at the end of the room, walking around the round pool set just before the balcony, to gaze out at the misty valley itself.

"This is surreal." He shook his head and felt the chill rise up along his spine. He was definitely awake, the wind blowing through his hair and pressing the black t-shirt tighter to his chest. The fiery pentagram with flames rising from it that was marked on his shirt seemed ironically suiting the surroundings, this was a bit too eerie, seeming perfectly suited for a horror story or something similar. Yet he wasn't hearing any angry snarling or approaching footsteps or rattling chains.

Indeed it seemed like the only thing he heard was the wind. There were no other sounds there for him to notice, leading him to suspect he was alone, for now at least. While it was relieving on one hand, it was also a little concerning on another. He was hardly dressed to deal with the cool weather, and even if he was, he had not really been a scout and thus know how to forage for food. Frankly, the thought his chances of finding something edible that didn't poison him were along the same lines as a snowball's chance in hell.

As he was wondering about things and thinking about where he might find some people, there was a strange glow behind him in the pool. Turning around to look back at the waters, he saw the once murky waters had changed slightly, showing a clear, illuminated image of a grassy hill with a town in the distance beyond the hill, but partially in view.

"Well, that's handy. I just have to find a way to get there, and something to defend myself with." The place looked rural and resembled something straight out of a fantasy story, and he had a feeling he should arm himself to give the image he wasn't someone to intimidate. His shirt might make him seem a bit sinister but he had little else he could change into either.

As he was thinking about these things, the waters became murky again, instead showing one of the partially blocked staircases down, then shifting to show a large forge-chamber, as well as an armory with many broken down shelves but a handful of stuff remained behind. Perhaps he could make use of it. The portal seemed to react to what he needed, and show it to him. It was certainly useful, but he was not entirely sure what to think of it just yet.

Moving to clear the way down by moving some of the rubble out of the way, and trying to move between the mess, Nick made his way down that staircase. There was less light to guide his way further down, but a few larger cracks in the wall and a broken old window ahead in the distance gave him a beacon to head towards despite the bit of distance to cover in a thicker blanket of darkness.

He stumbled a couple of times in that hallway, before he reached that window, having a view of the misty grounds beneath. The light of the window and the cracks illuminated a doorway leading down a few steps to the armory, as well as the old forge. There were torches mounted on the walls there giving the room some light, but he wondered how the torches there could be lit when none of the others seemed to give light.

Stepping closer, he found the torches themselves to be made of steel, thick rods with gold-shaded tips giving out flames that lit the room up, so he considered it briefly and figured they were simply enchanted. The pool seemed to have magic in it, and so did these torches. Pity they were securely mounted on the walls or he would have made use of them to explore more. Perhaps that was why the other places were so dark though, if the torches weren't so well secured and still carried a similar enchantment, they might have been worth stealing.

Turning his attention to the trashed armory, Nick looked around for something usable. A single, old steel mace was left laying around, dented and somewhat dirty with what may have been dried blood, it was hardly an imposing weapon to carry but better than nothing he thought to himself. There was also a wooden mannequin carrying on it a suit of armor, a set of steel plates and metal links joining them together, with a padding of leather and cloth beneath to secure it close to a body without chaffing constantly. It seemed a little big for him, and seemed made for a stronger man. There was a helmet resting atop the mannequin's head with a pair of horns to it, and a pair of slits for the eyes.

Nick thought about it a moment feeling somewhat wary of putting on something like that, but given the dangers this place might bring with it, a suit of armor and a weapon to go with it might just be what it took to keep himself alive. So, he began to open the armor's straps to loosen it, in order to don it and then tighten it on his form as well as he could. The helmet and the heavy mace would finish the look.

Stepping back out of the armory and looking around, Nick wondered about heading downstairs to the darkness to try and find a way to get out of the tower and explore the surroundings, but he figured he should first give a new look at the pool of water upstairs, and see if he could get directions to the small town from the waters somehow. With his luck, he'd only get completely lost if he set out on his own. This decided, he made his way back to the staircase to begin ascending back to the 'throne room', despite the rubble he was now trying to cross through in a heavy suit of metal armor, finding his progress a lot slower at first.

Yet as he stepped into the throne-room and before the pool, he was greeted by a shimmer in the waters, and a look of the hills and the town beyond them. He gazed upon them and thought about wanting to find the easiest way there, only to see his own mirror image, but on the move, stepping into the waters and vanishing. It was odd, and he hesitated a bit about following these instructions, but he followed them nonetheless, and as the image of the hillside and the town returned, he stepped to the shining waters.

**Hills near the Town**

The step into the waters had made him feel warm through his whole form, the armor feel lighter on his body, his grasp on the mace starting to feel more natural, and the feeling of being refreshed running through him. Looking around, he saw a set of five black pillars rising towards the sky, twice as tall as him, and shaped like claws rising from the ground, around a stone circle with eldritch runes carved upon its surface, a bit higher than the ground around it. He felt a power flowing through him as he still stood on the stone, but stepping off of it that rush ended.

He felt a lot better than he had when still waking up, and strong enough to move in the armor without a problem now, but he was no longer being refreshed and warmed constantly as he had been while standing on the stone. Nonetheless, he had things to do and answers could wait for a short while. The pool with its visions and teleportation, the armory with its still illuminated torches, the armor's lightness after he reached his destination, and the way it seemed to fit him better once he finished the step through, all of it was a complex tangle of improbable events that had taken place in a short while. Trying to think on all of it would just give him a headache, so he just went along with it.

As he looked around he saw a pair of paths leading down from the hilltop, one of them towards a nearby stream with fresh water running fast through a fairly deep riverbed, and another leading to a grassy field with several sheep bleating and going about there. They seemed to be watched over by an old ram that was eyeing him warily even as he surveyed his surroundings.

The bleating was the only real noise going on nearby, and there were no signs of the town visible from where he was standing. Frankly, the noise was starting to get a little irritating. Stepping along towards the stream to look around, Nick could see the remains of an old wooden bridge nearby, the wooden supports still showing from the stream, but the bridge itself was gone, just a bit of its ends remaining on both shores, the middle section completely gone, leaving that route blocked, at least for now.

Following the stream higher brought him to a stony cliff-side where the water was pouring out of a large hole in the wall near the top of the cliff, and moving downstream he could see a few larger boulders along the riverside come to block the easy path at least. Yet he could see stone bridge further off to the distance. it just meant having to go past the annoying sheep.

Shrugging his shoulders and returning to the clearing with the stone pillars, Nick headed downhill where the sheep were roaming, only to hear the snort of the ram as it glared at him, and then charge. Obviously it didn't like him, and Nick could tell it wasn't going to listen to reason, or even allow him to step back. So he swung the mace at its head as it closed in, and watched in surprise as the power of the blow knocked the sheep off its feet and slamming to the side with its skull caved in. Casting a look at the mace and then the ram's bloody skull, the young man felt a little strange.

It wasn't like he regretted killing the dumb animal. It was more like he felt its death empowered him slightly. The other sheep were now bleating in panic, and the sheer noise was hurting his ears. Damn annoying beasts. He raised the mace again, moving from a fleeing sheep to another, clubbing them to the death with the steel mace, only finishing the short rampage when the whole herd was dead. Granted, there hadn't been more than roughly twenty sheep there, but he wasn't usually that violent, in fact, he had never really been a violent person. Sure he defended himself, but this was just plain cruel behavior. Yet he hadn't cared, in that moment the fact had been they were annoying, and that sealed their fate.

Casting a look at his armor, he saw some blood splatters on it but more obvious thing for him to notice was that the left arm's gauntlet had a small gemstone embedded in it between his wrist and elbow, and it was shining with a bit of light to it now feeling charged up somehow. Yet he felt more power in the air somewhere beyond. Continuing along past the butchered sheep, Nick made his way across a small path between smaller hills, returning to another section of the stream soon enough, finding an older stone bridge there that had obviously seen some use in the past but was mostly left alone. The only markings on the dirt around it was the hoofmarks from the sheep it seemed.

Moving across the bridge and looking around, Nick could see a bit of smoke in the distance, a taller, familiar hill a bit ahead. He had seen it in the waters before, knowing that the town would not be too far past it anymore, but he still had some territory to cover by walking. A large field of wheat was growing nearby, along the side of the hill, and he could see a farmstead not too far away. Perhaps the farmer there let their sheeps grace across the river? It seemed unlikely as he hadn't seen any footsteps from actual people near the bridge, but the building looked to be in a better shape and he doubted it was abandoned at least.

As Nick approached, he could see a raised, crude pedestal holding a large crystal orb above them, shining onto the crops around it on the fields, the orb being wider than his chest in its diameter. It seemed to be radiating magic of some sort, and the fields seemed far richer the plants a lot taller and healthier near it. Yet he felt affronted it was being used this way, and he just knew it was meant for a far greater purpose.

Walking towards the farmstead and the orb, he saw the door open and a man wearing thick animal skins and carrying a pitchfork, staring at him angrily. "You! You aren't taking my magic thingamajing, that thing is my thingy! You won't take my thingy, no sir no, Bob's found it and Bob's keeping it, now you take your shiny metal butt back where you came from and turn around or I'll stab you! I swear I will, the pumpkins already know and you'll be next!"

The man was insane, that much was clear, but Nick growled in anger feeling this bastard was getting in the way and trying to keep him from taking what was rightfully his. He stepped closer, and saw the farmer take a step back in turn, before the crazed man drew a breath and let out a high-pitched, girly scream while charging ahead. As far as war-cries went, this was a pitiful one. Swinging the mace twice, Nick shattered the pitchfork with the first blow, leaving the man holding the sharp wooden stick in his hands still, the return blow the other way smacking the man's jaw with sufficient force to send teeth flying and slam the man around to the ground.

While Bob was spitting his teeth out and trying to get back up on his knees and to his feet, Nick raised the mace above his head and swung it down with vengeance. Blood splattering around him didn't disturb him at all, despite the fact he knew he would have been screaming at something like this in the past. He simply accepted it as a necessity, the man was crazy and didn't have any real reason to him. Bob got in his way and paid for it with his life, the poor farmer was a fool and that cost him his life. Simple facts.

Gazing at the orb and wondering how on earth he was going to get it back to the tower, he was surprised to see it shine when he came closer, and when he was close enough to touch it with his gauntleted hand a shine emerged from its surface, showing a somewhat feminine, if pale face floating in smoke within its surface it seemed.

"Greetings, Overlord, it is a great relief to see that Evil has found a way to return. I am Myst, the spirit of the Tower Heart, and your humble guide. I could sense that someone had found their way into the tower with promise, and hoped you would find me to let me return to my rightful place. I helped guide you by the visions in the water, but my powers over a distance like this are limited, so I could only bring you to the portal closest to myself. I ask you to return to the portal, I am able to have my form float after you as long as you do not get too far away. You will need minions to do your bidding in the future though."

Nick blinked while listening to the feminine voice speaking to him. He hadn't said a word when Bob accused him, and he hadn't said a word when he saw the face appear in the large orb. Part of him was still unsure what to think about things, and another acted as was natural to him right now. Moving ahead and recovering the tower heart, as well as getting rid of the annoying sheep had been a natural part of things.

"Come then, I have a lot of questions for you but we should take care of that in a safer place." He looked at the Tower Heart, seeing it begin to float and follow after him, a little slow but moving by its own power at least. He turned to return home, waiting for the orb at a few points as they progressed at a lazy pace, but given the orb was levitating itself by magic it was probably the most he could ask for. Nonetheless, it took an exceedingly long, boring while for them to reach the black stone pillars and the platform. The moment the orb reached the platform it slowly touched down and vanished. Following it on the platform, Nick had a vision of the tower in his mind's eye, and stepping ahead he found himself vanishing.

His surroundings were replaced by a thin fog for a second that dissipated quickly, one of his feet still in the waters of the pool another on the steps to the throne room. Moving ahead a few more steps to the floor's level, Nick turned around to look at the now shining waters, feeling the magic within the pool grow stronger by several orders of magnitude.

Merely stepping close to the water let him feel the amount of power radiating from the pool now, and it was invigorating. He had a feeling if he had to fight someone in this throne room he would be impossible to kill as long as the heart could keep pouring more rejuvenating powers into him, but as the power radiated through him he also felt himself move like the armor was natural part of him, light as a feather on his form, and sitting perfectly on his figure.

He was taller, his eyesight was sharper, and his body felt solid, strong and fit with the powers coursing through him. His mind was altered to a degree, he no longer reacted with horror to the thought of slaughter around him, as long as he saw the necessity for it at least. He didn't feel any sadistic urges towards any living creatures though, nor a need to plot world domination and laugh sinisterily. He had a feeling that becoming an Overlord turned him a touch more to the 'grey' side than the true 'dark side', but he wasn't going to be any champion of light with the powers he had received.

"So. I have questions, and I hope you have some answers. First off, where is this place, second, why me? Continuing from there I want you to tell me about this tower, its in ruins but I feel its important for some reason, and lastly, I want to know what you meant about those minions."

It was quite a list of questions to start with, but the mask-like feminine face appeared floating above the waters now, a ghostly presence speaking with a gentle feminine voice while answering him in a relaxed fashion, subservient and perfectly willing to please it seemed.

"You are in the Valley of the Mists, on the continent of Aethos, in the world of Domincal. You are perhaps not aware of it, but there are people who can walk between worlds. One of your ancestors was one, a distant relative to the Overlord in these lands who passed away a long time ago. When the new Overlord was needed, the call went out but few here have the power and the disposition to take up the mantle, so the power sought further, and found one with innate power. It found you. So it brought you here to take up the mantle, or refuse it."

It seemed like she waited for him to answer now if he wanted to back out of things. He merely waited, arms crossed the mace hanging off a link on his belt, his expression steely behind the helmet he wore while gazing at the floating mask. Its expression changed slightly, to a smile, as the feminine voice continued to speak after a moment had passed.

"The tower is part of your inheritance, a place of power where the lands themselves feed raw mana to the Tower Heart, allowing you to control magics vastly superior to the inner magic of some poor spellcasters trying to make a name for themselves in these lands. The place is in ruins because when your predecessor was killed, a long time ago, the heroes that did so looted the place and tried to prevent another Overlord from rising to take the dead one's place. Their efforts worked, to a certain degree, but it has affected the world in several ways as well."

Taking a deep breath it seemed, the mask seemed almost reluctant to get on with the last topic on the list of questions he had presented. The minions. He was curious to learn about them, but at the same time a little wary because the word seemed to carry a certain feel to it. Something which made him wonder why he felt a light chill down his spine thinking on it.

"The minions are traditionally the Overlord's servants, his warriors and assassins, his weapons and tools. They are loyal, willing to die for their master, and spawned from the life-force taken from other creatures. You have gathered some already, by slaying the lesser creatures, the sheep, and storing their life energy within the gauntlet by passing close enough to draw it from their recently slain figures. The minions can likewise grasp this life energy and bring it back to you, as well as they can find and bring you gold in some circumstances. They are always ready to loot and pillage at your command."

That didn't sound that bad. They seemed like helpful creatures living to please him. He figured some people would throw a fit on the idea of someone making other creatures serve him or her like that, blindly devoted, but if he was giving them life and they found happiness in his service, he wasn't going to throw that away.

"Unfortunately, the former minions are gone, destroyed by the heroes along with their minion hives, the eldritch creations spawning them into this world when life force was provided. It means a new one will have to be created, but it will take some time to fashion them. The simplest one used to be the 'Brown Minion' hive, which provided the old Overlord with his warriors and laborers. They're strong and tough sort, but not very bright."

Thinking on the words seriously and nodding his head slightly, Nick considered what he had heard. The minions would be useful, but he needed to gather life source to create some in his service. It seemed a lot of the things that had once served the earlier Overlords were now gone, but if new ones could be fashioned it would perhaps allow him to make things more suitable for his tastes.

"Do I need to go out and hunt for something to help create a hive then?" His question was met with a puzzled look by the mask, which then shook slightly sideways as if shaking its head, the feminine voice speaking gently in reply.

"Nothing but a little time and magic here, as I said the first hive is the easiest one to create, as it will be a relatively simple one. The warriors and laborers are supposed to help make things easier for the Overlord, and the more complex varieties can be brought forth when the sufficient materials have been recovered somewhere. For now, I'd ask you to focus on your gauntlet, and thinking of the life-force in it moving to the waters to help fuel the creation. It will consume a fair amount of the life-force, but should allow you to have your first minions as well. In the meanwhile, are there any particular wishes you might have about them? The earlier Overlords didn't much care, preferring the simple 'scary and mean' look to them, with big expressive ears as well as yellow eyes burning with malice and evil glee, as well as teeth to rip flesh apart if otherwise unarmed."

That was a good question. He admit he thought that such minions might inspire some fear, despite the fact the image he saw wasn't that tall the figure showing in the waters looking more comical in a fashion than truly scary, but yet he wasn't sure if he should alter it. At one hand, it would probably be 'traditional' to stick with the old looks, but on another, if he could shape the minions any way he saw fit, he might alter them to suit his tastes.

"What limits are there for their shape though?" His question was brief, and received a brief reply in turn. "They are going to be shorter than you, and the life-force affects their coloration, it has to do with the fact they're created by mana and life-force rather than truly born into this world."

Nodding his head slightly, Nick made up his mind. He had an idea he'd try out then, if it did not work out as he had planned, then he'd just live with the results he got, but he wanted to change things around a little way even if the limitations didn't let him go as far as he had thought he might go, if things had been different.

"Then make them as tall as you can within those limitations, give them a strong build as they are warriors and laborers as you said, but draw on the image in my mind for inspiration to how to shape them." He focused his thoughts on a short, originally green skinned figure which he altered on his mind to take up a beige skin colour, with short but sharp-tipped 'dagger ears', as well as short black hair atop their heads. The figures humanoid, with a bit of muscle to their limbs obviously, but also taking a feminine build of a few bits of curve to their figure. The term 'goblin' entered his mind, but he just called them his minions.

"It is acceptable. I shall begin creating the hive with the life force and mana as soon as you release the power into the pool, and you should have your first minions by the coming down. The tower may be ransacked and ruined, but now that the tower heart is here there should be a guiding light to show you a way to a room that in a better shape, not untouched but suitable for resting in until we can begin to restore this place."

Nick nod his head, and then focused, the life-force pouring out of the gauntlet like a bit of water flowing upwards, forming a glowing yellow ball that then floated over to the waters and dropped into them, the shining intensifying and then shifting, with floating arcane sigils seeming to appear in the air, twisting and turning, text and lines altering in real time, seeming to be adjusting for the purposes of whatever was coming. Other lines began to glow in the air, power humming and thrumming as the process was started. The land quaked lightly, the immense power of the creation process holding Nick in place for a moment, just staring.

It was curious to witness for a while, but its novelty began to fade soon enough and he felt tired already. So making his way to the now partially lit corridors blocked in parts by the rubble, he found his way to the room he had been told about, and moved to lay down on a rough bed with the old mattress torn but serviceable for now, as he had been told. The armor and helmet set aside before he got to bed, but the club laid down to rest against the bed's side, in arm's reach as he lay down to sleep.

One day of changes was coming to an end, but there would be many others to face soon enough.

**End of Chapter**

A/N: Starting a story is the hardest part sometimes. Once it sets in motion it is easier to carry on and keep creating more content, but the beginning may stump a person from time to time, a struggle to find the right way to step into the middle of things. I took a few different tries and ideas with this, but settled on the approach I took because it felt like it worked for me.

I am drawing inspiration from **gothicjedi666** and several others who have written fine stories with Overlord and other games/books/animes/tv-shows, but I hope to create a story that I would enjoy reading again later, and that others might enjoy as well.

This will begin as a mainly Overlord story, but I am considering the potential for cross-over events later on, but those shouldn't play any large role for the first 10-20 chapters at least. Its a long term possibility, not something I plan to indulge on from the very beginning.

Lastly, on the brown minions, or 'goblins' he is creating? I was thinking along the lines of World of Warcraft's goblins, only a bit more beige shaded in their skin, and feminine in their build though still strong. I considered between keeping the traditional sort of minions or having the character do such an alteration, but given he asked about and there was a choice, I went with it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/tv-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 02**

The worn old mattress was lumpy, had a smell to it, and was torn, but it was still a better option than sleeping on the floor, albeit not by much. The only reason that Nick was getting some good rest on it was the fact he had been on the move for a while, and whatever power energized him as long as he wanted to keep moving seemed to leave him at once when he actually did want to rest, allowing the built up exhaustion to take him to the arms of Morpheus. Dreams came and went unremembered, until he felt himself stirring on the mattress and awakening to a new day.

A new yawn echoed in the room as he stretched out, momentarily wondering about where he was before his eyes settled on the bloody mace, and the armor laid out nearby. It wasn't a dream, he told himself briefly before getting up, and getting dressed once more. While he was securing the armor in place he noticed idly that his arms were thicker, more muscular, as were his legs. His body was improving rapidly, and the armor was fitting him fine when he secured it in place.

It wasn't a great armor, nor was his helmet that impressive, the mace felt good in his grip but it was old and worn, reminding him that he should see about acquiring a new weapon eventually. That would have to wait till he had some minions and gold to spare for such projects though. Stretching out again this time in armor, he grinned to himself while heading back to the staircase and moving down toward the throne room. The rubble covering the way was shoved a bit to the wayside, it wasn't cleared out by any means but it let him pass by for now and things would begin to change soon enough. He'd make sure of that.

Stepping into the throne room he found out he wasn't alone anymore, as there was a row of five short, brown-skinned creatures standing there waiting. These minions resembled goblins if not for the beige shade of their skin rather than a deep emerald green he kept imagining from the term goblins. They wore a bit of torn grey cloth as a loincloth and a strap around their chest to cover up, and each one had a crude wooden club in hand, stopping their chattering to look at him as he approached.

"Master?" The closest one of them asked, and Nick nod his head slightly. "We were waiting for you. The Heart wants to talk to you." She gestured towards the pool, earning a nod from Nick who made his way past them though casting a curious look on them even as he moved along. The minions fell into a hurried step behind him, following along as he moved to the pool's edge, the waters shining slightly and taking the appearance of the hills and the town in the distance again, as the floating mask appeared above the waters, transparent and ghostly as it was.

"Greetings sir, I see you have met your new minions already. Browns, as I told you before, are your warriors and laborers. I am afraid I ended up using most of the life-force just creating a new hive for them, but from now on you should be able to summon new browns whenever you have life-force for it. You have none left to spare however, and restoring this tower would take a sizable work force to get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Now, the area you visited earlier holds a sizable amount of farmlands, and beasts, and given their frisky nature they have undoubtedly repopulated the area by now. I would urge you to gather your minions and unleash a little carnage to gather additional life-force and strengthen your numbers."

It was sound advice, and made sense. Nick nod his head in agreement casting a look at the waters before moving ahead to step into the stream. The minions followed him quickly, vanishing after him as the waters grew murky again, but a smile graced the mask's face as it let out a heavy sigh. "It is so much better with a Master in the tower again."

**Hills near the Town**

Stepping away from the stone platform, the Overlord found that the Heart's spirit had been correct, the bleating that was already getting on his nerves again was back, a whole herd of them gracing on the grassy hillside, a few had even wandered off near the stream and the broken bridge. He was both grateful that replenishing the life-force was going to be easy with these creatures wanting to graze so close to his gate, but at the same time he was starting to think he'd need to either learn to tolerate the constant bleating when he left the portal in this area, or he would start each day with a rampage killing the loud animals once he stepped through the gate.

"Minions, I don't want to see one living sheep on this side of the stream. Kill all of them, butcher them where they stand and bring me their life-force. Rend them apart!" He ordered the short creatures and smirked while watching the excited crowd rushing forth. They loved their job in that moment, that much he could see from the way they leaped on the sheeps back and began to beat their brains out or strangle the sheep with their clubs. It was amusing, but they were hardly as strong as he was, though they looked to be far stronger than their size would have suggested nonetheless.

Moving ahead, he gave the closest sheep a whack with his mace as well, deciding to take part in purging these hills of the bleating horrors, the idyllic scene washed away by blood in a moment's time, the bleating of at least this herd silenced forever more. Gathering the newly acquired life force, he returned to the gate to gesture to it with his gauntlet, willing the life-force to pass through.

As he did this, he could feel a connection to one of the spikes rising from the ground, the stone pillar taking a glow as a rune of some sort formed on its base. Four pillars were still without any markings, but the first changed slightly with jagged edges showing on the stone, and brown sigils covering the pillar rising up along it, a stone-carved head of one of his brown minions resting atop it on a glance. Smirking a hint, Nick felt an innate understanding what it was for. Focusing his will, he called upon the hive through the link the pillar had formed.

The portal flashed as a group of short, brown creatures hurried towards him. Unlike the ones he had met that morning, these ones hurried over without anything to cover themselves with or to wield as a weapon, an oversight on his part. The first-born must have had time to prepare something to wear and use as weapons while waiting for their Overlord to awaken, these ones were freshly born and had hurried to his side without time to cover up or grab something to use as a weapon.

Ten minions stood around him, ready to get on the move again. He felt he had life force for more, but at the same time he was unable to call more of them to his side right now. Still, he approached the gate and spoke to it and the pillars.

"Can you hear me, Myst?"

"As long as you wear your helmet Sir, I can always hear you and offer you advice if you should crave it. I try not to intrude too much on your journeys however, so as to not distract you and cause you to miss something critical."

"Alright, I am just wondering because I have ten minions at my sides and I believe there's enough life force for a dozen more to appear, but they won't. Any good reason why?"

"Ahh. It is unfortunate, but commanding a group of minions can be difficult in the heat of a large battle, but the Overlord has an advantage that they can issue their minions commands right into their minds with some practice. Unfortunately, this can only be done with so many minions, and the portal is reluctant to allow more minions out than you can control properly right now. It is a safety to avoid senseless losses, but I can seek to disable it if you prefer."

The news weren't pleasant, but they made sense. Still, I had a feeling there were other ways around this limitation and I wanted to find out about them first. Disabling a protection like that would be foolish, it might just take away the ability to issue those commands innately, and I would prefer to have it at my hands when things got chaotic later on.

"Are there other ways to control a larger horde of minions?"

"There are. The previous Overlords had tower-objects fashioned that would allow them to control up to fifty minions at once, and some planned on preparing some strong enough to hold a hundred at their command at once. Unfortunately, they were looted, and many of them likely destroyed since then, back when the tower was conquered. It could be possible to re-create some of those objects, with some time and effort. Having smarter minions to help out with it, and an extensive library, would certainly aid in speeding up such pursuits."

That meant he wouldn't be able to increase the size of his horde quite yet, but it would be an option later on. He might not like it, but he would accept it and move along. A little patience would go a long way in securing the future, he thought to himself.

"Very well, so I cannot control too many on the field at once, but can you at least bring the other minions to life through the hive and have them start cleaning up and fixing the tower, at least to the extent they can without any tools?"

"Of course, and I am sure that they will be happy to have some work to help out their Overlord. I will get everything set up here."

With that conversation done, Nick turned his attention back at the hillside and the direction the farmstead and the town lay in, setting off to see what could be found. His minions followed along, the ones already dressed in their crude loincloths seeming to keep a watchful eye for trouble, the ones without any weapons or even clothes for modesty just following along quickly though seeming to be looking for something to use as a weapon or to cover themselves with.

It was an oversight, one that Nick decided he'd take care of when he got back to the tower, that would be best taken care of quickly. Something as simple as a box full of cloth to fashion some loincloths and straps from as well as a pile of wooden clubs would get them started before they dashed off to join him if he had to call in new minions to the battlefield, and hopefully with some time he could get the minions dressed a little better.

Crossing the old stone bridge and heading along the road to the direction of the farmstead, Nick was wondering if anyone had even noticed the crazed old man was dead, when he got his answer when a small stone banged off his helmet, causing his ears to ring. Without a helmet he would've been bleeding, possibly disoriented from the blow.

"Human! Kill him quickly!" A short but stocky figure shouted while dropping a new stone into a sling he began to twirl quickly. The big, furry feet and the stubble on his face rather than a full beard suggested this was a halfling rather than a dwarf, but it mattered little as the little bastard had just dared to attack him.

There were three more nearby, one of them with a sling at his side, the others with short steel swords in their hands who turned to glare at his direction hearing their companion's shout, hurrying over for a fight, having apparently been looting the corpse for anything of value, or perhaps trying to figure out how the man had ended up killed. Either way, they'd sealed their fate with their intent voiced out loud, he was not going to show any mercy to someone that would try and murder him when they just met him. Granted, he did cut a dark image with the armor and the minions, but still, he had to discourage such behaviour and if it took bashing a few more skulls in, so be it.

"_Jump on the slinger and beat him to death, then gang up on the other slinger, I'll take care of the swordsmen. Avoid the ones with the blades if you can."_ He issued a command without speaking a word, but his gauntleted hand gestured towards the slinger and the minions charged ahead shrieking wildly and causing the halfling's pants to get wet in the front as the first two minions leaped up and began to whack him in the face with their clubs.

Nick was following along quickly too but raised his club higher in preparation to take a swing at the halfling swordsmen, who saw him as a bigger threat and decided to focus on him rather than helping their doomed comrade. Charging in they looked like they were almost bigger around than they were tall, but only almost.

"Off with your head!" He shouted while smashing the first halfling's head with the club with enough force to actually rip it off, crushed but nonetheless. It made for a gory, intimidating sight, but the other halfling swordsman seemed more concerned with stabbing him than looking at his dead companion, stabbing ahead and thrusting the blade ahead towards the joint between metal plates on his thigh, probably to knock him to the ground prone and helpless.

Too bad for the halfling bastard that the armor seemed to guide his movement somewhat, teaching him to fight, and turning his leg slightly he forced the blade to instead strike a glancing blow against a metal plate rather than the joint, a hit that might scratch but not really do anything meaningful. By now, he had the mace ready for a new swing, but chose instead to punch the halfling in the face with his left gauntleted hand forcing it to stagger back a step, then swinging the mace again. The halfling managed to dodge it this time, showing a bit more combat prowess, but before it could take a new stab at him Nick had delivered a bone-crushing kick to the halfling's nutsack, followed by an ungentlemanly overhead swing on the halfling's skull.

The slingers in turn had no hope to even defend themselves, the first one had died after the fifth hit on his head while the second one had tried to sling one of the approaching minions only to hit one of them in the chest rather than the head, seeming to anger the minion who took particular sadistic pleasure in stuffing its club into the halfling's mouth and slamming it down into its throat with another, borrowed club, hammering it down the feebly struggling, dying halfling's throat like a nail while the other minions held the slinger still and cheered their fellow minion on.

So as the fight ended, the minions stripped the halflings of their shirts. The pants they abandoned at once, but thankfully the oversized shirts covered them up well enough to serve as tunics for now. Two of the minions now held sharp metal blades quiet suitable in their size for the minions, and two others were trying out the slings, though their accuracy really wasn't that good. Heck, one of them actually managed to hit herself with the sling bullet by accident.

Curiously enough, one of the minions hurried over to stand before him holding a pouch of coins that the minions had gathered from the dead halflings, grinning widely as she held it up to him looking very pleased with herself. "Treasure!"

He couldn't help himself, he pat her head gently before taking up the gold, grinning behind the helmet. The minions seemed pleased that they had made their Overlord happy, and besides they'd gotten to kill and loot something, it was a good day as far as they were concerned. Of course, the halflings had not really been much of a challenge, but the day was young. There was bound to be more to kill.

Following the road, they made their way towards the town passing a few fields of wheat along the way, and then coming across a large meadow holding a great number of sheep bleating loudly in it. They were going around happily and making a racket. If they could just be quiet, he had no reason to get mad at them, but they had to keep making a huge racket. Had they never seen a figure in armor before? It was starting to get difficult to restrain himself from lashing out and just having his minions kill them.

Actually, that made him pause and look around. There were no signs of humans anywhere outside, the farmsteads looked like they'd been abandoned for a while too. Frowning, he gestured at the two nearest houses, sending a pair of minions into each to look around for any signs of people. A short bit of time passed, but the two pairs returned shaking their heads, though one of the minions proudly held up a pouch of gold for him. Taking up the handful of coins and smirking, he stroked her head and her hair amusedly, earning a grin from the minion who quickly moved back behind him to join the rest of the horde.

Casting a glance at the bleating sheep and the fence around the meadow, the Overlord drew a long breath and then brought his mace down, shattering the gate in the fence and gesturing at the sheep. The minions didn't need to be told what he wanted, charging ahead and delighting in slaughter with a side dish of insane laughter. They seemed to really find a lot of joy in what they did, and though the sheep hardly gave them a challenge other than catching up with the creatures, the minions were happy to practice their skills on these kills, giving a beating for every bleating.

Seeing the minions returning with arms full of shiny yellow orbs, Nick held his gauntleted arm ahead, watching the orbs float to it and vanish into the gemstone, its light shining bright on his arm as he could feel the amount of life-force growing. Thankfully it seemed there was no real limitations stopping him from taking advantage of the number of orbs of life-force he had managed to acquire at once, or if there was one it was far higher than he had gathered from this little operation.

Looking around on their way ahead, they came across some evidence of fights before in the area, with bones on the roadside in shall ditches. Humans and halflings, based on the sizes of those remains, left to lay there so people hadn't wanted to linger long enough to bury the remains. At least they were just bones by now, and any smell they might have held before had passed on already. Perhaps someone had burnt them, the ditch seemed to have some ashes in it, but he really didn't care too much, it was just another sign of conflict going on in this area.

Nearing the town walls, he saw the wooden palisade going around the place, and silently scoffed in his mind. A proper stone wall would have been a much stronger deterrent to troublemakers, but of course the town had to do with what they had, and if there was no quarry to deliver them stone to work with, it was going to be difficult to come up with the materials to build a wall. Even so, a wooden palisade was hardly something that gave them a well defended image.

"Hey you there! Stop where you are and tell us where you're coming from!"

A man shouting from the palisade near the gates the road lead to shouted at him, earning a brief glare from the Overlord in turn. He couldn't really give much of an answer, since he hadn't wandered too much and the information that Myst might provide about the locale could well be badly out of date, so he didn't want to gamble on that, and standing around all quiet for too long would be suspicious in itself.

"I am a wanderer and a warrior, I have been on the road for a while and killed a few halflings that tried to attack me further down the road. It seems like they're rather hostile in this area, so I am glad I have some minions to help teach them not to mess with me." He gestured back at his forces, earning a grin from the minions who proudly waved their clubs, swords, and slings, and in case of the last of them, a pitchfork stolen from one of the farmsteads.

"Huh. Well you're too tall to be a halfling, and your little friends dont look fat enough to be halflings, so I guess its alright to let you in, but we'll be watching you stranger, don't cause any trouble you hear?" The man at the gates shouted at him, before turning to yell something to the other side. Whatever it was, the gates were soon pushed open from the inside, allowing him to walk ahead to step into the town with his minions keeping close ranks behind him.

They drew a fair number of curious looks from the townsfolk. The roads were mostly packed dirt dividing patches of grassy ground around the buildings, giving the place more of a village feel than that of a proper town, but that might just be his impression of things. The folks wore simple cotton and leather outfits, many of them dirty and worn, and stared at his metal armor and minions with obvious wonder.

"Well stranger, if you can help out with taking care of the halflings I think you should drop by the tavern, you'll find the important folks there most likely." The guy on the wall turned back to watch the road again, while the guys on the ground pulled the gates shut again, resting a thick wooden beam on them to lock them in place.

Deciding he might as well take a look at what counted as important people around here, the Overlord made his way over towards the tavern which was easy enough to find. It was the only building around that stood taller than a single floor. The people here seemed to be mostly farmers or craftsmen, perhaps a couple of miners or lumberjacks as well, that sort of folks. Hardworking but not exactly wealthy.

Nearing the inn, he could feel a pull towards a bit of an empty patch of ground near the inn, facing a small pond left in the heart of the town, with some grassy ground around it, perhaps a small spot of green to relax in when they couldn't go outside the town walls but wanted to get off the streets for a moment. Indeed, a couple of fellows with fishing poles seemed to be trying to catch something from the pond, though he doubted there was that many fish in there if any.

Yet as he neared the shore a black row of pillars emerged from the ground, along with a stone platform, solidifying in a short moment to form a new gateway for him. It seemed the area was suitable for it, and there was some power beneath the town that allowed the connection to be made. He wasn't complaining, this would save him some time if he planned to come and go, but at the same time it revealed the existence of his gates to the townsfolk.

"What is that?", "Where did it come from?", "Did that stranger cause it to happen?" and many other questions were already on their lips, being whispered to one another a bit too loudly for it to be any secret. He cast the people a narrow eyed look but made his way to the front of the tavern, the commotion outside having already drawn a few people outside.

"Aaah! You must be what the fuss is about, and that little stone monument too!" The first of the approaching men stated the obvious, seeming extraordinarily pleased with himself to have so sufficintly explained that which everyone had already figured out. "Are you a hero?" A somewhat young-looking woman asked while an older lady shushed her, standing besides a bald, fat man who seemed to be the most self-important person of the group, based on his fine sleeve, well made trousers and a cocky look on his face.

"Yes, well, I am Oswald Silverrock, the second, and I am the local mayor. We sent word of our troubles to the baron before but we hadn't expected any help to come by for a while still, but now that you are here I believe it would be a fine time to start getting rid of those pesky little bastards. Now you see, we have been having halfling raids on our borders, killing people, stealing cattle, butchering sheep, that sorts of horrible, unneighborly behaviour. Yes, well, we need them to be suppressed and if the Baronial army isn't able to interfere, we are willing to pay for it. So I take it since you don't wear the baronial symbols that you are a mercenary, probably a leader of your little... group?"

"Something like that." He answered briefly, hardly impressed by the pompous man, but that excuse certainly sounded better than what he had come up with at the time. It gave him a chance to learn more about these folks, maybe earn some trust and gold from them, and the halflings had already pissed him off once so he had no qualms about crushing more of them if they were keen on making life difficult for him. Being paid to take care of it didn't hurt either.

"Hmmh, well yes, they have been troublesome for a while now. Attacked a camp in the forest not too far from here too, and took some of our folks captive, working them over in some kind of a slave camp not too far away. We've considered going after them, but the halflings are damn numerous. Vicious too for such ankle-biters. So, we'd like you to attack their slave camp and free our men, and find out what you can about them. We can discuss the options after that, but we'll pay you a reward for each dead halfling as well as a nice sum for the safe return of our men. Yes, indeed." The mayor puffed up his chest trying to look important, and earning a few proud looks from the townsfolk. The fact he _appeared to be doing something _seemed to matter more than actually doing something himself. Of course, with the way the pompous man was acting, it seemed obvious he expected the stranger to die trying and not having to pay for his services.

"Doesn't sound too hard. How much for the return of those men, and where are they being kept?" He tapped the heavy mace against his thigh lightly, a smirk crossing his face, hidden within the helmet, as he looked upon the mayor.

"They're at the edge of the woods, I'll have one of the guards point you in the right direction, and they captured thirty of our men. You'll get fifty gold for each man returned alive, and we'll pay five for each halfling head you bring with you."

It sounded a little cheap but he wasn't sure of how high pay that actually was, but he had a feeling the man was trying to rip him off. He could accept it and merely charge more later on, or he could demand more and see how that would go over. Greed could cause some issues, but at the same time the man was overly proud and backing away because of money probably wouldn't look good, especially if he had a good reason for that.

"I am sure it is a lot of money for most people, but I gotta take care of my minions, replace weapons and armor that gets broken by use, and we are talking about people you have admit yourself that your townsfolk aren't ready to face by themselves. I can help, I am not being unreasonable either, but I need at least double that to make it worth my time."

There was some grumbling among some of his audience, but others seemed to agree with his reasons and didn't seem to think it too high price to be paid for the safe return of their men. The mayor however looked aggravated for being pressured to release more gold for the reward, but finally cleared his throat trying to look like he had thought on it calmly instead of scowling behind the hand covering his chin and mouth.

"Alright, the safety of our townsfolk is more important than any gold, but we are not wealthy people so the price is a rather high one. I hope you and your men spend some of it at our tavern to relax after a job well done at least, to return some of it to our coffers while celebrating your triumph later." Again, it was fancy words but without really promising the increased pay to him, merely saying things that sounded good. Clearing his throat, Nick waited patiently for a moment.

"We'll pay double, but you best make haste, every moment you delay might cost some of our men their lives after all. We'll hope you consider this on your way, haggling like that when lives are at stake doesn't speak highly of your altruism." The man tried to scold him though he had reluctantly agreed to the increased payment.

"Just have the coin ready, Mayor." He noticed the stern woman's gaze watching him suspiciously, and the hopeful looks of the younger woman behind her, as well as the somewhat annoyed looks on the faces of the three somewhat plump men that had accompanied the mayor, though mostly quiet as he spoke. They must be his advisors and yes-men, Nick thought to himself.

**End of Chapter**

A/N: Alright, not too much going on yet but I plan on mixing a bit of the canon-material into the mixture though I have no plans to go by the plotlines of either Overlord I or Overlord II, I might make some connections present, but this is an AU so it will not be a retelling of the events in the game.

I'll drop in a chapter now and then when I feel inspired to write, but it will depend largely on when I feel creative. No guarantees how often I will post though.

I do plan on having Nick pick up a new name to call himself at some point, but I haven't decided on that yet. Overlord Nick doesn't exactly inspire fear, loyalty or anything.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/tv-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 03**

Nick had made his way back to the town's gates, deciding to see about taking care of the halflings. It would provide him with some gold at least, and he wasn't ready to take over the town anyway. The mayor they had certainly made him think it would be an improvement if he took over though. The man seemed more interested in lining his own pockets with gold, or maybe his and his companions, but he definitely didn't seem like a honest man to Nick.

Of course, being an Overlord didn't make him a hero who would reveal that to the public to try and save them. He'd have to find a good way to benefit from it, and frankly right now making the man think he could be controlled by gold and his greed was probably for the best. It would be hilarious to stomp on the man's face later on when the bastard would try and bribe him to leave the former mayor alive. Not that he would agree.

Walking along the twisting road along the rough hills he passed by a few rough cliffsides, continuing to follow the path while looking at the signs of trouble around them. The farmsteads near the riverside and on the meadows south of the stream had been ransacked more or less, abandoned in a hurry or wrecked and with graves dug near them to show what happened to those who stayed. The woods were further east, and he had been following the path from the farmlands to the rough hillside, and could see the woods further ahead.

"They aren't exactly being subtle." He remarked annoyedly after taking a turn around a hill and finding himself looking at a pair of spears struck into the ground at the sides of the road, with skulls resting atop the rusty sharp tips, facing the traveler. The banners attached to the old spears read 'Obey' in them, a gold script on blood-red background. Hardly that inventive. He was getting close though. Choosing to ignore the banners he walked along while his minions paused to look if they could dig the spears up quick enough to make use of them, but they seemed to decide it wasn't worth the trouble, chasing after their Overlord quickly.

The last hill along the way gave way to a wooden palisade surrounding a campground at the edge of the woods, with wooden platforms holding halflings on watch with slings held at ready. There was a gate that was being guarded by a pair of halfling swordsmen, but the gates themselves were shut and given the amount of slingers nearby, they would probably stay shut if he and his minions charged, at least until all of them were dead.

Looking around for a moment from the bit of cover they could get from the hillside, he noticed some of the older palisade wall at the side was tilted to the sides, cracked, and it looked like someone had let a tree fall against the wall to push some of the wooden pillars out of the way, breaking a hole into the wall. It was too high and narrow for him, but his minions ought to be able to make it.

"_I am going to need you to get inside, and open the gate for me. It might not be easy, and there's no telling how many of those halflings there are inside the camp, but try to stay unnoticed and make your way to the gates. If you are attacked there, protect the ones opening the gates, and I'll join you to massacre those who would impede our progress."_

His minions nod their heads in reply, the goblin-grins they wore saying a fair bit about their thoughts about getting to cause mayhem and destruction to their foes. They did not give the impression of being particularily smart, but they did seem to possess a fair bit of savage cunning at least. Nodding his head to them, he watched his minions dash on their way to the base of the fallen tree, rushing up along it and dropping down within the camp itself from there.

Unable to do anything but wait for a moment, Nick inhaled deeply and sighed to himself. It was unpleasant to send his minions out to fight where he couldn't even see them, but he had to. His eyes closed he thought on them, caught partially by surprise when he realized he could see through their eyes when he did so. That was certainly coming in handy, and reinforced what the Spirit had told him, about that connection.

There had been a halfling lad taking a piss near where the minions dropped in, but the lad had looked at the short goblin women a bit confused eyeing them up rather than screaming an alarm, and that was a mistake he didn't get a chance to regret. Sling bullet to his face sent him sprawling and groaning on the ground before the closest minion leapt on the plump halfling's chest and stabbed his throat and face a few times, till the halfling was completely silent.

They made their way behind a row of tents dashing along quickly to a pile of wood near the front gates, noticing the steps up to the slinger platforms nearby. Seeming to catch on to a wordless thought from their Overlord, a pair of goblins began to hurry up quickly while the others proceeded to the gates.

As Nick rushed ahead before the gates, the halflings were just turning to look at what was coming raising their slings when the first two shrieked being thrown off their towers to their doom, the other two turning to look in surprise to see their companions on the other side of the gate thrown down. That was all the time Nick needed to slam his mace to the first halfling swordman's face to kill him, feeling a sting at his side as the second one stabbed him with his own short blade, but the Overlord reacted by spinning and slamming the mace with a skull-shattering force on that bastard's face as well, the pain seeming dulled as he moved.

Alarms sounded quickly, a large bell clanging, but the gates opened with minions turning a large wheel near the gates on the other side, and even as he charged in he could see only a dozen swordsmen approaching, scattered rather than forming a clear group. Gesturing up at the platforms for his minions, he sent them to deal with the slingers, his own mace slamming in the first swordman's face with a crushing blow. A new strike to his knee saw him groan as the blade pierced the links there in the joint, but rather than stumbling he punched the halfling man in the face with one fist, a minion slipping to the side to drive her blade through the halfling's heart, coming in between the ribs in a swift stab.

The minions fought fiercely at his side as he marched on. Several stabs at him and his minions left them hurting, but the plump halflings were used to people who ran around screaming rather than fighting back, and their skill was lacking. Though the halflings were surprisingly quick and opportunistic at times, they didn't manage to really do serious harm. One of his minions now wore a bit of bloody cloth over a missing eye, that was the most serious injury his forces had suffered, where as the halflings were crushed and no longer drew breath.

Marching ahead he saw smaller groups of halflings try and organize themselves to fight better, but as the halflings saw an enraged armored figure charging, with madly cackling short warrior-women quickly following, their morale plummeted and some even turned to flee. It was a massacre in the end, the armor showing blood both his own and that of his enemies by the time the Overlord was able to sit down and draw a more relaxed breath again.

The minions were looting the camp, smashing locked containers and opening barrels to see what they held. The cages with the workers locked in them seemed to be made of rough iron, but sturdy enough that he had to sent his minions to dig through the halflings pockets to find a key for those cages rather than bashing them open.

"_Splendid victory there, sir. It is obvious the halflings aren't used to having to actually fight, your minions should have no trouble exterminating the pests, the reward should help with building up some wealth so that you can sit down to enjoy the sight of your riches. In the meanwhile, the halfling life-force allows us to begin repairing the tower soon enough. It even seems your minions have found some useful tools, scaffolding and even a crane there at the camp grounds."_

Myst's advice were met with a short sigh, before Nick replied. _"I am glad we'll be able to improve the place, its a mess right now after all, but something about this disturbs me a little. I kill and fight without much care for those who's life I am ending, and I fought through injuries that should have, would have in the past left me laying on the ground screaming, yet I feel hardly more than scratches now that its over."_ There was a moment's silence after his words, before Myst's voice replied once more.

"_You are feeling the benefits of being a new Overlord. Your will is strengthened, your body is improved, and you will be a hard man to injure before long. Even now, you are healing up and a good night's rest ought to leave you a scarless figure again. The tower will grow in power alongside you, but eventually it will call for more than your presence, once you start making enough conquests. It is traditional that an Overlord seek to establish a lineage when they can, and for that purpose, a mistress, or several, may be in order. That will be a fair while from now though."_

While it wasn't exactly what he had been asking about, Nick decided it was good enough for the moment, watching the halflings being cut up for the trophies the mayor had wanted as proof. Severed halfling heads were being loaded into carts that had used to hold the goods the labor camp was producing, from the looks of it a lot of rough iron ore as well as chopped wood as well as planks, and a gathering of tools being produced there. Those were instead being set up near a stone platform that had burst from the ground alongside familiar pillairs not too far away. If there was any questions about his presence in the region, the pillars and platforms were doing a fairly good job of answering it.

"Thank you for your help, you and your, errr, little friends have really helped us out!" One of the freed men came to greet him, earning a nod from Nick who stood up to his full height while addressing the man. "We'll walk you back to your town, the mayor promised a fair reward for your safe return and I am sure the people will be happy to see all of you again. Are all of you able to walk?" His question was met with a sad look from the man.

"Twenty six of us are, but three were beaten to death for refusing to work, and Ron, one of our more stubborn lads, mouthed them off even after that and they broke the man's legs."

"We'll load him into the wagons, it may not be comfortable, but better than walking on broken legs." Silently, the Overlord cursed the bad luck. The three dead men were dug up from their shallow grave and taken along too, best to return them for a proper burial at least. It wouldn't get him an increased reward, but it might help some folks get over their loss faster. If he wanted to take over the town at some point having the people more inclined to follow him would help, after all.

**The Town amidst the Hills**

The armored figure's return drew a fair share of attention to start with, but seeing him returning with weary and dirty, but living men that were already familiar to the townsfolk got a large crowd to surround them quickly enough. People reunited were hugging fiercely, mothers, wives and sons and daughters celebrating the return of their loved ones. Yet there was also crying and sobs for those few that had come back resting on a bed of halfling heads, their arms crossed over their chest but the pallor of death evident on them.

The mayor's approach alongside his goons was being watched by most of the small town's populace, and it was evident he was both pleased to have his people back, and yet annoyed having to pay as he saw the man standing there amongst the freed people. What made him shiver a moment was the wagonload of halfling heads they'd brought along as well.

"Mayor Silverrock, I have taught those halflings a lesson they won't be forgetting soon. Their camp has fallen to my forces, and ought to be a good point for me and mine to operate from until we see this threat has been dealt with. We are here to collect the first rewards for tasks we have completed. Twenty six of your men return safe and sound, one who is injured I can accept only receiving half of the reward for, and three who fell in the hands of those bastards, returned without a cost so they can have their final rest amongst the townsfolk. The ones responsible for their death are dead, their heads in the cart for you to do with as you will, once my reward has been settled. Set them on spikes to scare the little buggers away, send them back to the halflings to demoralize them by showing your town will not tolerate more of their bullying, whatever you do, as long as you pay me fairly I will make sure they will be the ones suffering."

The mayor's expression showed some annoyance still but it was quickly hidden behind a false smile. He could try and make himself look good with this, after all, even though it was costing him a fair share of gold to cover the cost of the reward he had promised.

"Well done, boy, I am glad to see the Barony has strong men able to put the fear of Man into those bastards. You and your mercenaries are going to be paid as soon as we confirm what you have, Diego, check the carts how many heads they have!"

The minions watched the interaction and the counting seriously too, refusing to let a miscount take place, and the mayor ended up parting of nearly three thousand gold coins. The price wasn't one the large man was glad to pay, but he paid it nonetheless. The people were cheering, the thought of the cost were secondary to seeing their friends and family returned safely, and the mayor had no real chance to go back on his word with their support of the damned hero evident right now.

"There we go, now we don't have a large amount of coin to our name here being simple people of the land, but we could gather some materials to reward you with if you would be willing to keep thinning their numbers till they stop attacking us. Some amongst us would even want revenge of attacking their burrows, but I am not sure if that would be a smart move, they would undoubtedly be hiding a lot of riches stolen from people in those small tunnels but they'd also be fighting like a cornered rat against anyone daring to invade there. Untold riches, but some pretty big risks too."

The way the man dangled those words again at the end of the sentence made it obvious he was trying to appeal to the overlord's greed to get him killed, but having also said enough to seem like he had warned the man as well. It was probably the most cunning idea the man had come up with in the meanwhile, but right now the Overlord didn't much care about that, he needed a bit of rest and time to recover back at the tower.

"If you say so. We'll be heading back to the campsite, and will return here from time to time with more of the halfling heads or news." Turning to leave, the Overlord and his minions made their way to the stone pillars and the platform there, stepping onto it and vanishing with a flash of magic, leaving a bewildered crowd behind.

**The Dark Tower's Ruins**

The return to the throne room was trading one bit of loud noise to another. The cheering of the townsfolk changed into the creaking and hammering of minions at work. Scaffolds were being set up, and minion teams were lifting heavy rocks, carrying them to toss them out from the balcony to the grounds below, and others seeming to be trying to fix up the old pillars lining the way to the throne and supporting the partially collapsed balconies that would've provided a view of the throne room in the past.

The minions he had arrived with seemed to salute him quickly, before moving to chat up with other minions quickly, showing off their trophies from halfling tunics to their sharp blades, and several of them showing off the slings they'd stolen too. Crates of tools lay nearby, and though his throne at the back of the room had been cleared of the mess, it still looked uncomfortable place to sit on, with the holes in the ceiling shining light down upon it directly as well.

"Welcome back sir, the minions are working hard on restoring the dark tower for you, and have managed to open up the way to the Master's Quarters. The stairs up are cleared, the torches along the way relit, and the fireplace in the room restored to a working order. The mistress quarters are going to need a lot of work, and the furniture was too broken to be of real use but we have put the best bed we could get together into the master's quarters for now, and will continue to improve the place along time. The forge is being restored, the minion quarters are being expanded around the first hive, and some room is being cleared for the other hives as well when they eventually arrive."

Myst's voice caught him from his evaluating gaze of the surroundings, a nod cast at her followed by a yawn from the Overlord who set his mace back to a link on his belt. "I am going to step into my quarters for some rest then, try and keep down the racket around there while I sleep."

**The Next Day**

The large mattress might have been old and worn, but it had allowed the Overlord a chance to sleep soundly after the earlier fights. Waking up he found himself energized and his body healed up without any signs of the fight he took part in yesterday, not even faint lines of healing cuts or stab-wounds remained. His armor rested on a nearby chair alongside his mace, the sturdy door to his quarters giving him a measure of privacy, but at the same time he wondered about the progress of the restorations.

Dressing up quickly and making his way down to the throne room, the young man had to admit the minions were impressive workers. The mess of broken stone had been cleared away, and from the looks of it the worst damage was already being repaired by his brown minions, a combination of magic, stone and mortar being worked together to seal the cracks in the pillars, and reinforce the walls, the use of magic seeming slow and crude, but the effects were evident as the damage done to the structure seemed to smoothe out as if it was never there.

"_Ah, sir, it seems that the locals have decided to try and study your gateway in the middle of that little town. They have been trying to figure out how to activate it, and some comments have even been made about moving it."_

Those words had the Overlord snort in quiet amusement before he shook his head. The gateway was bound to the tower, making those efforts more amusing than anything else, but he did think there were quite a number of gateways open in a relatively small area already. He quietly decided to keep from opening too many others for now, one in the hills beyond the river was a good quiet location to keep another in town suited his purposes just as well, and having the last one in the slave-camp he was thinking of turning into an outpost was another possibility. Any further construction would have to wait for a while though.

"I am pleased to see the minions have managed to fix this much already. Is there enough materials to clear up all of the tower though?" His question was met with a brief silence before Myst's voice replied back to him. "Unfortunately no, we shall fall short on the ready made stone before then, but we will be able to restore most of the tower with the stone at hand alongside the minions magic. A proper quarry would help us finish the repairs, and start the actual new construction."

Accepting that for now, Nick decided to turn his attention to the portal, making a gesture with his gauntleted hand he could feel the rush of minions moving up behind him to follow through, as he stepped into the waiting waters. With a cool sensation he and his minions were whisked away to arrive to the gateway that he had decided to target.

**The Broken Camp**

As the Overlord stepped through the gate he could see a number of halflings around seeming to be looking through the wreckage to find something of use. The gates were open, but there were slingers in the towers besides it, and halfling swordsmen here and there, but also a fair number of halfling laborers.

Unarmed or not, the Overlord wasn't feeling merciful, and as his gauntleted hand rose to gesture at the halflings that had dared to intrude on what was rightfully now his territory, the minions charged ahead with a howling war-cry. Several halfling laborers practically pissed themselves trying to flee, only to be jumped on their back and stabbed in the neck by the vicious little brown goblins of his. The swordsmen moved in to try and stop the slaughter, but the Overlord's own figure moved ahead quickly as well, and the heavy mace swinged in the air.

The fight was over before long, with several minions scratched up and bruised, but each of them now sporting a halfling shirt, some of them red from the blood, others bright yellow, but they also had chain-shirts for all of them, and halfling swords to fight with. His minions were starting to get good at what they did, though he had lost two in the fight and had to call for new replacements from the gate.

Still, two dead minions compared to the thirty dead halflings, he was feeling fairly confident in his forces. Given that half that number had been laborers and four of the others had been slingers, it was hardly a real fight though, and with the halflings charging in individually rather than fighting in a proper squad they were wiped out in drops before they could try and put their superior numbers to any proper use.

"Gather the life force and any spare equipment, and deliver it to the tower. Then, we'll take a look at the forest as well as seeing if we can find more of these wee little bastards." Kicking a dead halfling's corpse, the Overlord waited till his minions finished with the looting. There wasn't much they had missed earlier, but now that it seemed the halflings wanted to restore the place he was more inclined to gather everything that might be useful and send it away to the tower so the enemy wouldn't get their hands on it.

With that done, he lead his forces out of the camp, and to the woods.

**Forest Path**

It seemed almost boringly mundane after a while. Just leaf trees and pine-trees around and about leading towards a small stream flowing through the woods, and hardly an animal in sight. Of course, given the noise his minions and his armor made, he could understand the last piece. Still, there had been nothing particularily magical about the experience, no great surprises in the forest that he had been curious on. No signs of elves or the fey. Perhaps if there were any, they made their home away from the path they were threading on though.

Crossing the small stream that only got as high up as his mid-thigh seemed to stump his minions for a moment as they weren't too keen on swimming, or possibly drowning, but on his orders they quickly bashed a nearby young tree's trunk till it shattered and the tree fell over the stream to form them a bridge to put into use. Rushing over with a cackle evident on their lips, the minions kept following him along as he marched the leafy trail to see if there were any further signs of halflings ahead.

It took a while but eventually the forest path seemed to widen and twist to show a hilltop view among the woods of the lowlands further along, and a number of halfling homesteads built here and there. Large pond of water nearby held several small houses near it, a curved road before it seeming to lead to the distance. The forest path hadn't been guarded, so the halflings probably sought to keep watch from the slave-camp on any attempts to approach their territory. They might start setting up traps or guards in the forest along the path later on, but for now that journey had been relatively painless.

There was some hills beyond the bit of lowlands he could see, smoke rising here and there both before the hills and beyond them. Undoubtedly there was more to the settlements beyond the lowlands, but they were in his path for now. The question of what to do about that made the Overlord think back at what they had witnessed before. Halfling warriors had killed the farmers on human territory, terrorizing the people there.

Yet those warriors might not have had the agreement of the halfling laborers here. It might be the halflings just obeyed orders. Yet the bloodlust he had seen in the stocky short bastards so far spoke volumes of their own evil nature in this world. They were cruel enough to attack a man just for walking in on them, they would have killed him then and there if he hadn't been strong enough to win. The halfling race might not have declared war on him as such, but they had openly preyed on the tall folk for a while now, and lifting the mace he hardened his grasp on the handle, speaking his orders.

"We are going to march forth, and kill every last one of them. If they flee, chase them if it seems you can get them but if it starts to look like they're getting away anyhow, I want you to return to me. No sense in chasing them to the hills and finding ourselves facing a counter attack by armed warriors. This is vengeance, I want you to kill, destroy, and pillage this area without shame! We'll gather all the life-force and gold we can from here, and leave this region behind, perhaps that will make them think twice about preying on humans again. If they stay on this side of the forest after that _bloody warning, _then perhaps they may be allowed to live."

**The Dark Tower's Ruins**

Myst's ghostly figure stood atop the pool of water gazing down upon the image the Overlord's helmet and gauntlet were transferring to her. Silently watching the destruction and bloodshed while evaluating the Overlord. He had some of his humanity in him, but he was perfectly willing to harden his heart to strike without mercy, no matter whether someone was a warrior, a simple farmer, or even a child. The Overlord was a necessary evil after all.

The lands had been fought over by countless lords and ladies trying to stake a claim on a territory, and battles that exhausted entire generations had taken place in the past lifetimes. The world had been badly fragmented, fractured and weakened. Conflict after conflict sparked more bloodshed, and yet the naive champions of light tried to establish a benevolent regime that was unwilling to deal with the threats around them, soon finding subterfuge and corruption destroying them, dragging all they tried to build to the ground.

The Overlord was a necessary evil, because everyone was equal under the heel of his boot. The Dark Powers would empower the Overlord to strike fear into the heart of this world, and though balance called for him to fight and lose eventually, it didn't mean the Overlord would have to die after all he had achieved. As long as he didn't go mad with power and try and take over the entire world, he might carve himself a nice-sized imperium with the minions at his side.

Myst wasn't entirely certain if the man could do this, but he was certainly more promising than some of the others had been. Halflings and humans were a simple enough challenge in this region, both were wonderfully corrupt in some ways, but halflings had been drinking poisonous corruption in their mother's milk already, and twisted to a fashion where it was more merciful to give them a quick death than to try and save them.

An Overlord had to eventually make a choice between Destruction and Domination, whether they would champion the cause of Ruin, or the cause of Chain. Yet Myst had felt confident from the very beginning that she already had an answer at hand. This Overlord was willing to kill, destroy and burn the foes in his path but he was also planninh for domination. His thoughts were open to her, and she approved.

As the Spirit of the Tower Heart, she was also the 'Mother' of all the Minions, and though he had asked them fashioned in a feminine form, he didn't seem to stop to stare at them. Their feminine form seemed to cause some confusion in the halfling ranks certainly, but it didn't make them any less formiddable enemies for those fools. In fact, the sheer viciousness of the female goblin minions had her smirk coldly at the thought of nicknaming them 'Amazons', but they were a tad too short for that title perhaps.

Nonetheless, she approved of his goals so far, and his methods were working. She would protect this Overlord, and aid his cause, but there were many trials ahead still. Including the question whether or not he would try and claim a single mistress or several to his tower. Thinking back, a large number of women provided different ideas and inspiration for the right man, but they could also become a distraction, and by scheming against one another lead to ruin. A lone mistress might focus things a lot better, but ran the risk of weakening the Overlord if she turned her back on him, and certainly left him with far less help when he had to think about things. Traditionally, it was the women behind the Overlord that truly ran the show, after all.

Behind every dark throne, was a woman.

**End Chapter**

A/N: I've received some curiosity on the other minions. That will remain to be seen, does it not? I am not going to spoil what I have in mind there. As for the Mistresses, I definitely have a share of ideas of what kind of people he might end up bringing back to the Tower in time, but whether or not they will be joining remains to be seen when time comes.

Still considering the Overlord's name, and so far, the writing has focused on a small corner of the world and a lot remains in the dark, but ah well.


End file.
